Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Look But Don't Touch!!

Desert cholla can be nice to look at, especially in the late afternoon sun. Back-lighting on their thorny needles can make them look like they are glowing.


But don't touch! Don't even brush lightly against them. The thorns and bits of cactus seem to almost "jump" onto the unwary hiker (hence the nickname, "jumping cholla"). The thorns are barbed at the end, painful, and very difficult to remove.

16 comments:

  1. so very pretty (i'm admiring from WAAAAY over here...) :)

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  2. I tried that - backlighting cholla, on my last desert road trip. You did a way much better job of capturing the effect than I. Well done.

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  3. Yikes! They do look like they could cause a great deal of hurt. Beautifully lit photos, though!!! "Glowing" was the first word that came to my mind, too.

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  4. You are a master of light


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  5. So this is the porcupine of the plant world.
    Yes the back lighting does add more spice to the photo.

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  6. I love those backlight shots. Yep glowing is the right word.

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  7. Beautiful - but I wouldn't want to prick my finger on them LOL

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  8. I'm wincing just looking at that beautiful, but nasty plant.

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  9. Oh yeah, we have them here too. Stay away, far away~

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  10. They hurt like crazy! Sad personal experience. But they are beautiful. Even then I thought so.

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  11. How wonderfully glowing they are!

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  12. Lovely shoots of the cactus:))

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  13. You captured its beauty well, and hopefully avoided its nasty side.

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  14. These are some amazing photos. Very nice work! I can almost feel the ouch! :-)

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